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Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip
Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human diso...
Autores principales: | , |
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
Publicado: |
MDPI
2018
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Materias: | |
Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5983246/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29748471 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190 |
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author | Tehran, Domenico Azarnia Pirazzini, Marco |
author_facet | Tehran, Domenico Azarnia Pirazzini, Marco |
author_sort | Tehran, Domenico Azarnia |
collection | PubMed |
description | Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human disorders. BoNTs are produced by multiple bacteria of the genus Clostridium and, on the basis of their different immunological properties, were classified as seven distinct types of toxin. BoNT classification remained stagnant for the last 50 years until, via bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing techniques, dozens of BoNT variants, novel serotypes as well as BoNT-like toxins within non-clostridial species have been discovered. Here, we discuss how the now “booming field” of botulinum neurotoxin may shed light on their evolutionary origin and open exciting avenues for future therapeutic applications. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-5983246 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2018 |
publisher | MDPI |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-59832462018-06-06 Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip Tehran, Domenico Azarnia Pirazzini, Marco Toxins (Basel) Review Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the etiological agents of botulism, are the deadliest toxins known to humans. Yet, thanks to their biological and toxicological features, BoNTs have become sophisticated tools to study neuronal physiology and valuable therapeutics for an increasing number of human disorders. BoNTs are produced by multiple bacteria of the genus Clostridium and, on the basis of their different immunological properties, were classified as seven distinct types of toxin. BoNT classification remained stagnant for the last 50 years until, via bioinformatics and high-throughput sequencing techniques, dozens of BoNT variants, novel serotypes as well as BoNT-like toxins within non-clostridial species have been discovered. Here, we discuss how the now “booming field” of botulinum neurotoxin may shed light on their evolutionary origin and open exciting avenues for future therapeutic applications. MDPI 2018-05-10 /pmc/articles/PMC5983246/ /pubmed/29748471 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190 Text en © 2018 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Review Tehran, Domenico Azarnia Pirazzini, Marco Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title | Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title_full | Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title_fullStr | Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title_full_unstemmed | Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title_short | Novel Botulinum Neurotoxins: Exploring Underneath the Iceberg Tip |
title_sort | novel botulinum neurotoxins: exploring underneath the iceberg tip |
topic | Review |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5983246/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29748471 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/toxins10050190 |
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